Stay away from nightingale nurses!!!

[GipsyRN]

Hi there to all my fellow nurses, travelers and all those who are thinking about travelling. I want to share with you my experience with a travel company and advise you to STAY AWAY from them. This company is Nightingale Nurses based in Boca Raton, Florida. I have been travelling since 2002 and I have worked with many companies. For the most part my experience has been great! At the end of the day for me, it boils down to the relationship you have with your recruiter.
Anyway, last year I signed up with Nightingale when I was having difficulty getting an assignment, due to the economic crisis affecting most travelers in 2009, I was reluctant at first because I had heard negative things about them with regard to payment issues etc. However, I decided to give them a chance. My recruiter was a nightmare. She was very difficult and made the process of signing up more tedious than it needed to be, and what was worse, I had issues with my paychecks! Nevertheless, I hung in there because I needed to. Later on the company let go of many of their recruiters, mine included, and I was assigned someone else who was easier to work with or so I thought?!?!
Towards the end of my assignment at my 4th extension, I had asked for a loyalty bonus/vacation pay which they had advertised in their package and on their website. I felt that I was a valuable employee and they had received numerous commendations from the facility I was working at. I spoke with my recruiter and he said “sure no problem, you have been with us long enough, just send me a reminder email as it gets closer to the end of your assignment and I will take care of it” I had asked him to put it in my contract and he said that there was no need to do so (that should have raised a red flag!) Anyway, sure enough when I emailed him, he told me that I did not qualify and that I needed to put in more time with them etc. I had already made Holiday plans and because this bonus was to be equal to 1 weeks pay, I was screwed with my financial plans. I followed the chain of command and basically they told me there was nothing they could do. Concurrently, I have 2 other friends who are going through hell right now in their contracts, and wished they had never signed up with Nightingale.
Many of these companies don’t care about nurse retention , keeping their nurses happy, or what they advertise. They find a way to lock you in a contract, make money off the hard working nurse and then screw them in the end. Nightingale Nurses is one of those companies!! I feel it is my duty to share this with you. It is already tough being away from home, there is no reason for a travel company to take advantage of our situation.
GipsyRN:nurse-soapbox:

[cali510]

Thank you for your contribution. It should serve as a warning about this particular company and that people should always be wary when told it is not necessary to put an agreement in writing.